Play pen



Feb. 8, 1966 L. GOLUB ET AL PLAY PEN 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original FiledJan. 6. 1960 a 0 w M 2 4 a f 0 0 0 0 0 0 VO MM W v INVENTORS J60 $01MMax 2W9) j, 14f 75 Feb. 8, 1966 GQLUB ET AL 3,233,254

PLAY PEN Original Filed Jan. 6, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 8, 1966 GOLUBET AL 3,233,254

' PLAY PEN Original Filed Jan. 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 JJ 10 l/ UnitedStates Patent 3,233,254 PLAY PEN Leo Goiub, Marblehead, and Max Zaiger,Swampscott, Mass, assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, ofsixty-seven percent to Paul R. Engel, sixteen and onehalf percent toWinslow E. Thomson, and sixteen and one-half percent to John R. SehoreeOriginal application Jan. 6, 1960, Ser. No. 728, now Patent No.3,095,583, dated July 2, 1963. Divided and this application May 10,1963, Ser. No. 279,547

11 Claims. (Cl. -99) This invention relates to improvements incollapsible play pens or play yards for babies and is a division of ourapplication Serial No. 728, filed January 6, 1960, now Patent No.3,095,583. One of the principal objects of our invention is theprovision of play pens'which are more rigid in construction, safer inuse, and which can be collapsed readily and compactly from a standingposition.

A significant object of our invention is to provide an improvedconstruction for supporting a foldable play pen floor at the centeralong the folding qr hinged axis when in the open position and forslidable guiding thereof while the play pen is being folded andunfolded,

Other and further objects and advantages will be apparent from thefollowing description and claims and by reference to the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a ehilds'play pen according to one embodimentof the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the play pen shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view, on reduced scale, showing the frame and themanner of collapsing the play pen shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial bottom view of the play pen according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view, on an enlarged scale, showing releasable meansfor joining the end member support to the upper frame of the play penaccording to FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a section on the line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIGS. 7 and 11 are side views, on a slightly reduced scale, of a secondand third embodiment of the present invention; I

FIG. 8 is a plan view, on a reduced scale, of theplay pen of FIG. 1 withcanopy attached;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the play pen and canopy of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a side view of the canopy shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 detachedfrom the play pen and mounted on separate, auxiliary legs.

Referring to FIGS. l-4, the play pen illustrated comprises a generallyrectangular upper frame 10, downwardly diverging legs ll at oppositesides thereof, end members 12, a floor 13, axial rod 14, foot treadleand enclosing material 16, preferably nylon netting.

The upper frame 10 comprises aluminum tube material and has two U-shapedhalves 17 and 17a which fold on pivots 18 at the midpoint of oppositesides thereof. Legs 11 are pivotally attached at their upper ends to thepivots 18 and diverge downwardly in open position, terminating in feet19.

Floor 13 comprises two halves 20 and 21 which fold upwardly along ameeting or parting line 22 extending from side to side at the midpointof the floor. As shown,

each floor section 20, 21 is reinforced by a plurality of channels 23attached thereto.

Axial rod 14 extends from side to side of the play pen beneath the flooraxis 22 and terminates in depending legs 24 which contact the supportingsurface for the play pen to support the floor 13 in open position.Hinges 25 are riveted or otherwise secured to the fioor 13 and embracethe axial rod 14. Hinges 25 are provided with opposed, axially spaced,quarter-round slots 26. Pins 3,233,254 Patented Feb. 8, 1966 27 projectfrom axial rod 14 and engage slots 26. In open position, the pins 27engage opposite ends of slots 26 thereby preventing the floor fromsagging below a horizontal plane and locate legs 24 in verticalposition.

Floor sections 13 are pivotally attached to the support rods 28 by meansof clips 29 beneath opposite ends of floor 13. Rods 28 have projectingends 28a rigidly secured to the ends of opposed legs 11 on either sideof the play pen by means of bolts 30. End members 12 are generallyU-shaped and have inturning ends pivotally secured by the bolts 30 tolegs 11 on opposite sides of the play pen. Each outer end of frame 10has sleeves 31 (FIGS. 5 and 6) secured thereto by means of bolts 32.Sleeves 31 carry projecting tongues 33 curved to embrace the closedorupper portion of end members 12 and having therein holes 34. The upperor closed portion of end member 12 is provided'with spring pins 35, theends of which are depressible inwardly but which normally project beyondthe circumference of rod member 12. In open position, pins'35 projectthrough holes 34 of bracket 31 to lock the upper frame member 10 inhorizontal position.

For the purpose of safety, a spaced plurality of pins 35 and holes 3.4are provided on each end member 12 so that a child cannot inadvertentlyrelease the supporting end member '12 by accidentally or otherwisedepressing a single pin.

In collapsing the play pen, pins 35 are depressed torelease endmernbers12, the halves 17 and 17a of upper frame 10 are collapsed downwardlyagainst legs 11, and end members 12 are then folded inwardly over rod 14(FIG. 3). The upper ends of end members 12 are then grasped and foottreadle 15 pressed upon to fold the floor 13 upwardly while liftingmoderately or pulling on end members 12. Thus the play pen can becollapsed, after disengaging end members 12, by a single motion by anoperator in standing or near standing position, thus eliminating thestooping or bending heretofore required.

In addition to the improved manner of collapsing the pen, and to thesafety feature embodied in a plurality of locking-pins35, the playpenilustrated has the further advantage of providing a substantially morerigid structure by utilization of rigid end members 12 in conjunctionwith legs 11 thereby substantiallyreducing the tendency of the play pento skew.

A further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 7 and.comprises an upper frame 10a with halves 17b and 17c, legs, 11a,,floor13a with halves 20a and 21a and channelbraces 23a, elbow braces 36,vertical posts 37 and a draw string 38. The vertical posts 37 have anupper fitting 39 containing pivots 18a for upper frame halves 17b and170, a fitting 40 to which legs 11a are pivotally secured and a fitting41 to which the collapsible braces 36 are secured. In this embodiment,the axial rod 14 beneath the center of the floor 13a terminates in rings42 at each end which slidably engage the lower portion of the verticalposts 37. In open position, the floor 13a is supported in horizontalposition by means of pins 43a in the lower'ends of vertical posts 37which engage the rings 42 to limit downward movement of the floor. Drawstring 38 is secured at its lower end to one of rings 42, passesupwardly through a retaining ring 43 on fitting 39 and terminates in aball 44 held by ring 43. .To. collapse the play pen, braces 36 arefolded, upper frame halves 17b and 17a folded down against legs lla andthe floor and legs are collasped by drawing on draw string 38.

While upper frame braces 36 are shown in FIG. 7 pivotally attached attheir lower ends to fitting 41 on vertical posts 37, they can also beattached to legs 11a as shown in FIG. 11 at lines 45.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate a canopy 48 attached to the the canopy and havetheir ends attached to lower frame 50 and upper frame 52 respectively.Clamps 56 are provided on each open arm of lower frame member 50 whichsecure the canopy to upper frame member of the play pen.

While the canopy 48 is herein illustrated mounted on the play pen ofFIG. 1, it is obvious that it can also be attached to the play pen shownin FIG. 7 as well as play pens of other types having upper framemembers. However, the combination is particularly advantageous with theplay pens, as illustrated, which have opposed diverging legs and whereinthe ends of the upper frame member fold thereagainst since the canopywill collapse or fold with the play pen without requiring its removal.The canopy illustrated has further utility in that it can 'be removedfrom the play pen and attached to separate legs 60 (FIG. 10) by clamps61 which can be clamps 56, if desired. The canopy can therefore be usedto cover the play pen or to cover a separate chair or the like, asrequired.

It should be understood that the foregoing description is for thepurpose of illustration only and that the invention includes allmodifications falling Within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A foldable play pen comprising, in combination:

(a) a pair of vertical posts;

(b) an upper frame having two sections, the free ends of which arepivotally interconnected to said posts;

(c) a pair of floor panels hinged together along adjacent edges thereof;

(d) means for supporting the outer edge portions of said panels and saidupper frame in open positions when the play pen is in an open position;

(e) means for folding said adjacent hinged edges of said floor panelsupwardly to a collapsed position; and

(f) means supporting said hinged edges of said panels from said postswhen in an open position.

2. A foldable play pen in accordance with claim 1 in which said hingeedge supporting means includes a rod to which said panels are hinged,said rod terminating in slidable connections with said posts.

3. A foldable playpen in accordance with claim 1 in which said (d) meansincludes a pair of substantially vertical support members pivoted toeach post, said outer edge portions of said panels being pivoted tooppositng ones of said support members. I

4. A play pen in accordance with claim 1 in which said panel hinge edgesupporting means includes a slidable connection between said adjacenthinged edges of the floor panels and each of said vertical posts.

5. A play pen in accordance with claim 1 including a pull string betweensaid free edge of one of said floor panels at one side thereof andextending to said upper frame for collapsing said play pen.

6. A foldable play pen comprising, in combination (a) an upper framehaving two sections, (b) a pair of vertical posts extending downwardlyfrom said upper frame, (c) means pivoting the free ends of each of saidupper frame sections to said posts, ((1) a pair of generally verticalsupport members, (e) a pair of floor panels upwardly collapsibly hingedtogether along adjacent edges thereof,

(f) means supporting said hinged edges of said panels from said postswhenin an open position,

(g) means supporting the outer edge portions of said panels from saidsupport members, and

(h) means for supporting said upper frame in an open position relativeto said floor panels when the play pen is in an open position.

7. A foldable play pen comprising, in combination:

(a) an upper frame having two sections;

(b) a pair of vertical posts extendning downwardly from said upperframe;

(c) means pivoting the free ends of each of said upper frame sections tosaid posts;

(d) a pair of generally vertical support members pivoted to each post;

(e) a pair of floor panels hinged together along adjacent edges thereof;(f) means supporting said hinged edges of said panels from said postswhen in an open position; and (g) means supporting the outer edgeportions of said panels from said support members.

'8. A foldable play pen comprising, in combination:

(a) an upper frame having two sections;

(b) a pair of vertical posts extending downwardly from said upper frame;

(c) means pivoting the free ends of each of said upper frame sections tosaid posts;

((1) a pair of floor panels hinged together along adjacent edges hereof;(e) means slidably connecting said hinged edges of said panels to saidposts for movement between open and closed positions along said post;and (f) means supporting the outer edge portions of said panels and saidupper frame in open positions when the play pen is in an open position.9. A foldable play pen in accordance with claim 8 in which said slidableconnecting means comprises a ring surrounding at least one of saidposts.

10. A foldable play pen in accordance with claim 8 in which saidslidable connecting means comprises a ring surrounding each post, eachring being integral with a rod forming a hinge pin for the panel hinges.

11. A foldable play pen comprising, in combination,

(a) an upper frame having two sections pivoted with respect to eachother,

(b) a pair of vertical posts, each being carried by said upper framebetween said two sections,

(c) a pair of legs pivotally interconnected with each of said posts onopposing sides of said upper frame,

(d) a floor having two sections,

(e) means for rigidly connecting opposing ones of said pairs of legs andpivotally supporting each of said floor sections at substantially theirouter edges relative to saidopposing legs,

(f) means between said floor sections and each of said posts pivotingsaid floor sections relative to each other, and slidably supporting saidfloor sections,

, where pivoted, for movement between open and closed positions alongsaid post, and

(g) means supporting said upper frame in an open position relative tosaid floor when the play pen is in an open position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,158,507 11/1915Kolb 5-99 2,922,169 1/1960 Werner 598 2,992,441 7/ 1961 Landry 5993,064,277 11/1962 Gill '5-98 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

1. A FOLDABLE PLAY PEN COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION (A) A PAIR OF VERTICALPOSTS; (B) AN UPPER FRAME HAVING TWO SECTIONS, THE FREE ENDS OF WHICHARE PIVOTALLY INTERCONNECTED TO SAID POSTS; (C) A PAIR OF FLOOR PANELSHINGED TOGETHER ALONG ADJACENT EDGES THEREOF; (D) MEANS FOR SUPPORTINGTHE OUTER EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID PANELS AND SAID UPPPER FRAME IN OPENPOSITIONS WHEN THE PLAY PEN IS IN AN OPEN POSITION; (E) MEANS FORFOLDING SAID ADJACENT HINGED EDGES OF SAID FLOOR PANELS UPWARDLY TO ACOLLAPSED POSITION; AND (F) MEANS SUPPORTING SAID HINGED EDGES OF SAIDPANELS FROM SAID POSTS WHEN IN AN OPEN POSITION.